Fading
by La'Fae Villiers
Summary: Jayden/Madison/Susan But don't get scared off by that!Mostly a story about Norman after he retires from the FBI and his aftermath from the usage of ARI and Tripto. Fading in and out of reality without knowing. Lots of twists Rated M for future chap
1. The Doctor

**A/N: WHOA! Who's branching out? Me. Awesome, ya? Well stay tuned and we'll see. Been obsessed with this game lately, so I though I'd give it my own personal whirl. ****J This takes place after New Life, Origami's Grave and Case Closed.**

**Xx**

Norman always found it ironic that Ethan's old doctor had accepted him as a patient. I guess after he played good cop to the docile shrink, the balding man didn't have much ground to reject him. The retired FBI agent flicks his light eyes over to the calm and awaiting therapist. Had he asked him something?

The little box in the upper right of the doctor's screen flashed the word: NERVOUS.

"Jayden, I asked if you'd had any side effects? To the Tripto?" The doctor enquires smoothly. The man laying on the chaise snaps back to reality.

"Like, uh, withdrawal?" Jayden asks in his thick accent, ever so charmingly. He scratches at his cheek, feeling the small ridge inlaid in the skin, surrounded by brisk stubble.

"Yes Norman."

CONCENTRATING.

"No….no bleeding. Or hallucinations. But…reality is still a bit of a daze. I guess." The doctor focuses his steady eyes on the former FBI agent's figure. The light from the rare sun shining through the stained glass, casting colorful illusions across Jayden's face.

ANXIOUS.

"Explain what's been happening with the shifts of your reality." The shrink prods softly, like a curious child opening the cookie jar; careful, rhythmic, yet interested.

"Well, like, I don't know what's me…and what I, like….what's _ARI_-me." Jayden looks at his still hands and remembers all the instances in which they trembled.

"We now know that Triptocaine has lasting repercussions, so it's best to identify them quickly." The shrink taps something into his computer before looking at the waiting Jayden again. "But…"

FEAR.

"Yeah?" Jayden sits up slowly and faces his doctor.

"I just want to make sure that you aren't using this ARI business….as an excuse to evade your mistakes." The rail thin man stares down his nose at the now slightly insulted Jayden. Before Jayden can form one of his regular witty remarks, the doctor continues easily. "Tell me about Madison."

REMEMBERING - HAPPINESS - GUILT

The three words flashed in the corner of the screen so quickly that the doctor's eyes widened, as did the man who caused them. He quickly detached all his censors and rose to his feet.

"Norman." The voice was strong yet small, so small that he could ignore it and walk away. He stopped in his tracks. "Let's talk. Man to man. No programmed filter."

Jayden gives a cautious sideways glance before lowering himself into a plastic molded chair.

"What do you wanna know?" The brunette man questions, rather harshly. The elder pays no mind.

"Start at the beginning." The older man turns the timer next to him off and folds his hands placidly. Jayden takes him in for a moment before starting slowly.

"We officially met at Shelby's grave. It was right after her and Ethan bought a house with Shaun…I…I hope this time it was ARI…."

**Xx**

**End A/N: So there's my hook. Should I continue?**


	2. Madison

**Out of all my fics, this is the one I've wanted to work on for a while. Hope you enjoy.**

**Xx**

It was raining, obviously. It was always raining. Norman looks up to the sky, normal sunglasses on his nose. It seems silly to wear glasses now, considering there's no sun. But I guess it was more a mental thing than anything else. Still, it felt odd to not have a glove on along with his shades.

The rain pounds at the pavement, gravity fighting man made fixtures; an ongoing war. Would that rain ever defeat cement? Or is this the new order of things, man overpowering nature? Jayden blinks and remembers why he decided to venture out of his little apartment in the first place. He needs a new job. His interview is in three hours, yet there's nothing to do at the dusty one bedroom abode he'd just left.

"What was I doing?" He asks himself. The thought blinks into focus. Memory loss, a side effect of Tripto. Lunch, I was going out for lunch. He walks with a new purpose, feeling almost proud for remembering something that any normal person wouldn't of forgotten. He spots a diner down the road and makes his way towards it, but then his eyes catch on something.

Across the street from the diner is a graveyard. The graveyard. The one with the body of Scott Shelby. Norman's lunch plans flicker. He hasn't been to his grave yet. The Oragami Killer ordeal has left his mind over the past month, it's painful to think about. Yet, in some way, the cemetary seems to becon him closer. He takes a step towards the iron gates.

Within moments he opens the wrought iron gate. It creaks and moans, soft sighs of resistance. There's a path down the middle and he walks it until he reaches a familiar area. He follows his memory to a place he visited two weeks ago: John Shelby's grave. He finds it with little difficulty.

This little boy's death caused a serial killer to emerge, and the lives of so many little boys…lost.

A cough.

Norman's back straightens, water pelting his head and leaving spots before his eyes. He takes off his glasses and spins around, a bit too quickly. His ankle buckles and he falls to the wet earth. Charming.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" A woman rushes over and helps Norman to his feet. He looks up at the woman.

"You really do have a habit of helping injured guys." He chuckles as he regains his footing. Madison smiles.

"Yeah, I guess I do." She smiles, brown eyes shining. Norman remembers something, something about seeing her walk past him. Where was that? He thinks harder. Blue Lagoon, he saw her leave the Blue Lagoon. He recalls her short skirt and shakes his head to dissolve the thought. "Are you okay?"

Norman snaps out of his stupor and smiles weakly.

"Yeah, o'course." He tries to sound convincing, words being drowned out by the increasingly heavy rain. She smiles. "So, how are you and Ethan?"

Darkness, pure darkness. Norman Jayden's body has gone cold. He can't see anything, the world is gone. It takes all of his strength to open his eyes. His body is heavy. His eyes adjust. He's looking up at a ceiling. Not his ceiling.

Norman twitches his fingers. He isn't paralyzed. The last thing he remembers was talking to Madison at the graveyard. He moves his hand slowly and realizes the resistance of clothing is missing. He lifts his arm, seeing that it's bare.

_Where's my jacket? _His eyes adjust to the pale skin. _My shirt?_ His hand flies down beside him. Blankets. _Am I in the hospital? _He hears crying. _Oh god, am I dead?_

The crying is quiet, but he doesn't hear the familiar beeping and moaning of the hospital. _I could be dead. That makes sense._ He thinks back, trying to remember what had happened between standing near Shelby's grave and laying on this bed. Did a plane crash on him? Is that the recovered Madison crying at his now lack of limbs? Norman wiggles his toes and fingers. All in place.

He relaxes. Then panic hits. He feels around and sighs in relief as he feels his last worry under the blanket. Wait, he felt that last thing all too easily. Norman looks down and lifts the blanket, revealing his naked body.

"Shit!" He yelps. The crying stops. Norman looks up to see Madison, her eyes red and puffy. She's sitting in a corner with nothing but her underwear on. Norman looks away quickly, mumbling sorry. Then reality hits him and he looks back at the short haired woman, eyes huge as saucers. He puts two and two together. "Ma-Madison? What…" His mind stalls for a minute, no memories breaking through the darkness. "What did we do?"

She stares at him for a second before she turns away and starts crying again.

**Xx**

**Short chapter, yes. But hopefully it'll start getting interesting soon. Thank you for reading! I love the support.**


	3. Susan Bowles

**Ah, it's me! Back again! Enjoy this installment of Fading. **

**Xx**

"Madison?" She doesn't turn around. "Madison, I'm freakin' out! What the hell happened?"

"Just shut up and get out!" She screams, louder than necessary. It makes Norman jump. He quickly tugs on his clothes and checks his watch. He missed his interview.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving." Norman walks into his shoes then leaves the loft-like apartment without another word. What the hell just happened? Did I...did I just sleep with Madison? As in, _Ethan's _Madison? No, I couldn't have. That's not something I would do. His head feels light and empty. He hasn't eaten yet. He walks down the stairs and out the door of the building. The rain is still coming down heavy.

Norman suddenly falls flat on his face, his foot caught on a black garbage bag.

"I'm the regular klutz today." He slurs in his accent before righting himself again. The bag is torn a bit, exposing fabric. Norman has the sudden urge to investigate it. "No, Norman. Those days are over." He resists the urge and walks forward, no destination in his mind.

He's hungry but it's too late to eat anything, plus all the diners on this road are closed for the night. He tries to calculate how many hours he was out, and can't. Simple math just doesn't want to register in his mind. He knocks shoulders with someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." It's a woman's voice. He turns to face her, some kind of memory being triggered.

"Susan Bowles." Norman says without thinking.

"What?" She steps closer, her pretty round jawed face confused. "How did you know my name?"

"I worked on two cases with you involved." He says quickly, trying to keep the memory intact. "The Origami case and then something else... A case involving you and your little girl."

"Emily?"

"Is that her name?"

"Yes." She looks down.

"Then yeah." He snaps his fingers, trying to remember the second case. It won't come to him. "Something about you and Emily."

"Emily was taken away from me." She says. "By the state, I think." Norman nods.

"That must of been it." Though he isn't completely sure.

"It's weird though. I don't remember when that happened. Seems like forever ago." A police car whizzes by the pair, splashing water on their already soaked shoes.

"I've been losing track of time recently too." Norman shrugs, knowing his reason. They stand in silence for a moment, looking at each other. Her long hair is matted down by the rain, her jacket pulled tight around her.

"Are you hungry?" She asks, sincerely wondering. Former Agent Jayden smiles.

"A bit."

"I waitress at the diner down the road, I'm sure I could get you something." She starts to walk the way Norman was headed in.

"If you don't mind." She nods. "Okay. Okay, yeah, thanks."

The walk to the diner is short and quiet. He realized quickly that this is the diner he was going to earlier anyway. She unlocks the side door and lets him in first. He sits down at the bar area and accepts some coffee.

"Thanks a lot, really." He swallow a few gulps black, and then adds some sugar.

"No problem, I have nothing to do once I go home." She leaves the awkward sentence hanging in the air between them.

"Yeah, me either." She smiles and sets some toast and bacon in front of him. "Thanks Susan." She gives a small smile. Wow, she's pretty, Norman thinks. She just looks so sad. Susan heats something up for herself then sits a seat down from Norman to eat. He finishes quickly, being hungrier than he thought, then sits quietly, waiting fo her to finish. He finds himself growing bored and decides to look around, his investigating nature firing to life.

The diner is small, with a 1950's style feel to it. The booths are blue and the tables are white, rimmed with chrome. The walls have pictures of Elvis and the like, with little plaques below them with dates engraved. The windows are streaky, they probably get washed every morning. Childrens' hand prints mark the glass in certain areas, only visible at the right angle. Out the window and across the street is a graveyard.

Blackness floods in before he can think. He sees Madison, her eyes, her smile. Then a flicker of Ethan, but he fades fast. It's as if he's seeing all this from underwater, or from another time. Something shifts in him, and a sinking feeling hits him. An awful feeling of terror washes over him, making it so he can't move, can't breathe. He feels as if a train has hit him.

The diner comes back into focus, bright and painful. He's covered in sweat, Susan is holding his shoulders, shaking him.

"Norman! Norman, are you okay! Norman!" His eyes begin to really see again.

"You have egg on your chin." He extends a finger and removes it. She lets her arms drop.

"You just had a fit and the first thing you can say is something about eggs?" She wipes her forehead.

"I had a fit? And how did you know my name?" Norman realizes he's sitting on the floor. He pulls himself back on a stool.

"Yes, you did. Scared the hell out of me too. And...I don't know how I know your name." She scratches her head, eyebrows set in a way that says she's thinking. "I guess I saw it on TV or something when the Origami case was closed. I don't know." She says it slowly, so it's obvious she's not completely sure.

"Sorry." He replies, looking at his empty plate.

"Don't apologize." She says. "You can't control those things. It's just odd, I could of sworn that I had those before. I don't know why though. But I remember blacking out...it seemed like so long ago. But eventually it stopped."

"That's weird." Is all Norman can offer. She nods in agreement and then picks up his plate. Norman catches a glimpse of red scars crisscrossing her wrist. A memory flickers, then fades. "I should probably get going."

"I'm sure I'll see you soon?" She stands there, like a lost child. "I don't have friends anymore." A surge of sympathy runs through him.

"O'course. I'm always around." He stands to leave, and she goes to wash the dishes.

Once he's safely outside, he allows himself to talk.

"I really need to read up on ARI side effects again. This is ridiculous."

**Xx**

**Thus the plot thickens. I have a really good idea for this one, guys! It's going to be good, I can feel it!**


End file.
